League Game #2 - Futbol Club Bonda

Today, the Sub-13 team played their second league game at the field in Bonda. Lugging multiple bags, we found that the majority of the kids were on time, waiting for us to arrive at 7:00AM sharp at the Los Fundadores field. In total we were 25 children and 7 adults, crammed into a buseta. As we were more than the usual 14 that these busetas seat, we were able to "contract" the buseta to take us directly without stops to Bonda for a lowered price.

On our way to Bonda.

Organizing the guayos/tacos or cleats.

Being punctual has always been a struggle for me even though I was raised to be on time. Sometimes I wonder if "Berkeley time" or my extensive time spent living in South America is to blame. Regardless, punctuality and attendance have been issues we reinforce daily, even though they may not be as stressed here on the coast as in other cities or other countries. It is important that we arrive punctually because we have to add an extra step that other teams do not have to consider -- distributing and putting on uniforms. Unfortunately, due to costs of referees and the buseta, some children are unable to make it. This keeps our coaches on their toes as positions and replacements have to be made last minute.

We lost 3-0, which was a big improvement from our last loss (9-0). There is a huge desire to win but we teach that having fun and good manners and sportsmanship, are just as important.



We bring thermoses of agua de panela and water for the kids. It is difficult and costly to transport and/or purchase enough water for each of the players. I made kettle corn for the kids as a halftime snack, thinking back to my days of soccer. I've always hated oranges so no orange slices for these kids!


Additionally, I have really pushed for us to involve parents. We have written permission to escort children to and from games, however, with very limited personnel, it is a challenge to remain organized with the uniforms (we loan out socks, cleats, shinguards, shirts, and shorts and collect those same items the same day) while keeping an eye on all 25 kids that were in attendance. Therefore, we were grateful for the two mothers and two fathers who were in attendance (as well as the younger siblings that also came to cheer). We took advantage of the long trip to Bonda by planning a recreational event after the game to the nearby Rio Bonda, Bonda River.

Some of our involved families.

"Fishing"

Jumping off the rocks.

The Sub-13 Team.

Our coaches get uniforms too!

Transportation: Getting Around Santa Marta

Santa Marta Sites

I created a map placemarking a number of the sites that I travel to on a sometimes daily but at least weekly basis. Because blogger does not seem to be the most advanced and my limited html knowledge from my internet chatting days has long since left me, the link underneath the map should take you to the sites and give you some links to some of these government agencies, organizations, and fields that I've mentioned briefly so far but may not have explained or discussed thoroughly. Hopefully one day, this map will might serve as a base or at least a helpful guide for future volunteers.

Busetas

Buseta rides as I've said are 1200 COP each direction. There is no real "public transportation" here so if you happen to get on the wrong buseta and need to get off, you´re out of those 1200 COP. The busetas are fairly small, seating about 14 people. Some are larger, namely those that go south towards Rodadero Beach and the airport. These are fairly easy to spot, they are larger and are either blue or white with streaks of purple. The plus side to this system is that they come often and it isn´t quite the debilitating blow as it can be to walk down the stairs at the 96th street stop to see that the next 1 train will arrive in 15 minutes. Hours fluctuate... I'd estimate they run from about 6:00 to 8:00 at night, however, some busetas will not complete their routes to remain within a more heavily trafficked area as the night wears on.

The placards change depending on the direction the buseta is going on the route and usually list a number of the streets or neighborhoods that they pass through. The direction is best understood by the most bottom word on the placard. Unfortunately, I've learned which busetas I want so my memory of all the neighborhoods listed on the placards is a bit iffy.

Directo-Bastidas (yellow placard)

I pick up this buseta heading north on Carrera 8 (Avenue 8) at my street Calle 24 (Street 24). You might hear someone say that we´re headed down or bajando, which didn't quite make sense to me as we head north for an avenue or two before turning left onto Calle 22 (also referred to as Santa Rita). Bajando was in reference to the street numbers getting smaller and subiendo in reference to heading the direction where the street numbers increase. Unfortunately, this buseta runs west until it hits La Quinta (The 5th or Fifth Avenue) before it makes its way back to Avenida Libertador. After about 15 minutes, it turns left and passes Barrio Galicia (to the left is the soccer field. Just after it passes under the Via Alterna to the left is Campo Alegre, the soccer field in Bastidas. The buseta's route ends about 25 to 30 minutes after I board and drops me off a block from the field in Los Fundadores.

Santa Rita - Transporte / Santa Rita-Taganga (light blue placard, white where it reads Taganga)

I utilize this buseta often as I can get down Avenida Libertador without heading down to the mercado (market). Basically, no matter what buseta you get on, if you stay on long enough you will hit the market. This buseta I pick up at Calle 22/Santa Rita at Carrera 8, subiendo. El Polideportivo is on the lefthand side on Santa Rita before the buseta eventually takes a left at Carrera 24 and then hits Avenida Libertador and turns right. If I am going to the office, I get off at Carrera 33 and walk to Calle 23 in Barrio Florida. If I am going to the Bus Terminal because I am going to Baranquilla for a friendly water polo game, I stay on the buseta for about 15 minutes more, or 30 to 40 minutes total, depending on traffic. Unfortunately, the terminal is not right off the road, so I often alert the driver ahead of time to let me off at the bus terminal. I usually head straight from the office to Taganga so the placard should say Santa Rita - Taganga for this route. Taganga is the end of the route. Sometimes, especially on the 10th or the 25th (days without motos), the routes are shortened and head down Santa Rita to the Market but do not head to Taganga.

Rodadero/Aeropuerto (large blue or white and purple buseta)

I can pick this buseta where I pick up the Santa-Rita Taganga bus in Barrio La Florida or on La Cuarta (4th Ave) around Calle 22. The busetas stop pretty much everywhere so you can get off and on whenever you want. To get on, you simply wave. To get off, I've heard a spectrum of polite to brusque requests, from "Señor, hagame el favor, me deja en la esquina" to "PARADA!" Since they are not quite accustomed to my accent and the more words I say the more likely I am to be misinterpreted, I've taken to saying "Señor...por aca" or I make the others who I'm riding with call out for me. Best to budget an hour to get to the airport but it is the same economic fare of 1200 COP. 

Motorcycles and Mototaxis

I typically pay 1000 COP to 2000 COP for mototaxis. If it is somewhere really close, then 1000 should do. Most of my routes are fairly long so I've just taken to giving 2000.

10th and 25th

These days are days without motorcycles and motorcycle taxis in attempt to control the excessive number of motorcyles in Santa Marta. The streets seem a lot calmer, however, it can be a pain getting around as the buseta routes can be quite tedious for such a small city and they get extra crowded due to limited transportation mediums.

Pico y placa

In addition to the 10th and 25th days of the month, motorcycles have two days of pico y placa a week, meaning two additional days a week when they can not be ridden. It seems like most people take this to mean that they are not ridden on the main roads. 

Parilleros

This refers to the second rider, whether it be a family member, friend, or paying passenger. Parilleros are not allowed in the center of Santa Marta. Sometime within the last year or two, men have been forbidden as parilleros after 7:00pm to curb drive by motorcycle shootings, mainly in the outskirts of Santa Marta. Women, however, are allowed to ride whenever. The later it gets however, the less likely one is to find a working mototaxi.

Taxis

From the airport, a taxi will cost about 20,000 COP to the city center, about a half hour to 45 minutes away. Maybe 22,000 COP. Usually there is a yellow card under the passenger sunshade that you can consult for the fixed long distance costs. Most other taxi rides are 4000 or 5000 COP, depending on the distance. Best to ask how much they will charge before getting in. That also gives you the chance to see if there is air conditioning!

After taking busetas, mototaxis, taxis, and receiving rides from generous friends of Marcos' family, I have a fair grasp of getting around. Sadly to say, this is my THIRD time in Santa Marta and I am slightly embarrassed that it has taken me this long since the city is quite small. I tend to learn my way around via running, but the heat discouraged me from doing so until recently as well as everyone else´s (over?)concern for my safety. I could have essentially been getting hill runs in daily as I commute to Taganga daily during the week for water polo practice with Santa Marta's Club Water Polo team. The road is a bit windy and some of the busetas take the curves at an alarmingly fast speed so that has also been a deterence. 

Courtesy of Jose Davila, the coach of Club Shark/Polo Acuático Santa Marta.

More on this side activity later... They convinced me to push my flight back (originally the 25th of July) so that I can play in the Fiestas del Mar tournament. I'm also excited to experience the festivities since I managed to miss them the past two visits to the Colombian Coast.

Field Clean-Up Day

Creando la consciencia medioambiental

In Santa Marta, the streets are full of trash, largely in part due to used plastic bags in which water is sold. The public fields in Santa Marta where we practice (Cancha de Galicia, Cancha de Los Fundadores and Campo Alegre) are literally littered with these water bags.

Each day, we bring plastic bags to not only collect our trash but to clean up our field. At first, the kids started with a lot of complaints. With each day, it is becoming more routine. Our Assistant Coach, Yobany Nuñez, and I devoted part of Friday's practice to a more thorough clean-up of Campo Alegre.

Not too many complaints here.

This issue extends to adults...there's a reason why tossing trash is second nature to these kids. On my ride to the market to purchase reusable plastic cups and water thermoses (to further minimalize our negative impact on the environment), a woman seated in front of me threw her water bag out the window. Although not the same, this overuse of plastic reminds me of the year I spent in Chile arguing with the supermarket cashiers to not triple bag my groceries and that there was no need to put my toothpaste in its own separate bag.

New Uniforms

Not the best quality since these were taken with Marcos' phone...

We have two sets of uniforms, with varying sizes for our 9 and unders and our 12 and under and 14 and under teams. Hard to see, but on one side of the chest, we had our logo printed. The back of the uniforms read "FC FUNDADORES" in white (for the blue uniforms) and green (for the yellow uniforms).

These photos were taken to rev the children up to get paperwork in (which many of you know is a burdensome task when working in the community) so that they can begin to play in league matches.

Breiner, to the left, was so excited (even though he may not look it) that he invented an excuse to run home and show his parents during practice. His parents have demonstrated their commitment to his development by attending our parent meeting, participating in our asado fundraiser two weeks ago, and communicating with us with regards to him traveling safely to and from practices and games.

The Home "Office"

We are connected!!! (July 7th)

UPDATE (July 8th)
I lied. After fixing what was the worst virus attack I've seen on a computer, a lightning bolt struck outside, causing the modem to crackle and flash. Back to no internet. Oh Colombia.

Parent Meeting Success

REUNION DE PADRES
Friday, June 28th
3:00PM - 5:00PM
Salon de Children International

We held a meeting for parents of children involved in the soccer school to provide latest details on the school and its new affiliation with La Liga de Fútbol de Magdalena. 

Thanks to the assistance of Hugo Amador, Director at the league, we had turned in the Statues to the city hall. Due to the nature of his position, Señor Hugo has contacts at City Hall that we've been hounding to push through the paperwork that is still being reviewed. He has also been generous with extending deadlines to us as we collect the required paperwork for each player in order to be enrolled in the league (copy of Registro Civil, copy of Tarjeta de Identidad, photo cédula, filled in ficha del jugador, and 12.000 COP for their carnéts or ID cards). One of the goals of the meeting was to introduce our new affiliation with the league as well as fill out paperwork and collect required photocopies of documents. Games officially start today, however, we have been extended until the following Sunday. Our internal deadline is Tuesday to turn in paperwork, money, and photos... even if that means we play one category.

Additionally, we reminded parents of the new summer hours:

Sub-9	Lunes/Monday	9:00 - 11:00 am
Sub-12	Martes/Tuesday	9:00 - 11:00 am
Sub-14	Miércoles/Wednesday	9:00 - 11:00 am
Las Niñas	Jueves/Thursday	9:00 - 11:00 am
Sub-12	Viernes/Friday	9:00 - 11:00 am
Sub-14	Sábado/Saturday	9:00 - 11:00 am

Lastly, we asked for collaboration from the parents. The following Sunday we would have a fundraiser where Marcos would be cooking dinner (meat, yuca, potatoes, salad) at $7000 COP. We asked that each family commit to purchasing one meal for their family.

One thing I am realizing from my experiences is that one faces very similar challenges when working with the community, whether it be in New York, California, or in Colombia. Of supposedly 60 football students supposedly going to play with the League, only 12 parents arrived and an additional handful called ahead of time to inform of his/her inability to attend. We've since discussed numerous plans of attack, ways to enganchar or "hook" parents...

Update

Fútbol Club Fundadores Final Shield/Logo

By Jeffry Alonso/JEFF D3SIGN. 

He also does 2D/3D model rendering and architectural plans in AutoCAD.

Latest logo/shield

Watching these being made in PAINT was... painful. You make do with what is available.

Neiser's shield (color and black and white), made by Andres Naranjo under the guidance of Marcos Nuñez.

Fútbol Club Fundadores - Escudos

After what felt like an unproductive and somewhat disappointing week (Fundación Goles de Corazón might be put on hold for the time being), I really wanted to mark some things off on my ever-growing task list this week. As the invitation to participate in La Liga de Fútbol de Magdalena's first semester tournaments was still on the table (and starting July 8th), we started this week refreshed (with Marcos recovered from the flu) and highly motivated...nos pusimos las pilas. 

Some of the kids (Alvaro, Neiser, Luis, and Harwin) submitted their escudos to be voted upon. To get us started, I also asked around for some ideas from friends--a huge thank you to Freda Yawson, Jeffry Alonso, Thy Doan--who have contributed and/or have agreed to help out. The winner went to Neiser...however, to compromise, we're going with Luis' name (Fútbol Club Fundadores). So, here we have a very Samario (what you call someone from Santa Marta)/Colombiano emblem: 

 The faro and morro (lighthouse and rock outcropping) are iconic features of the Santa Marta bay. Santa Marta is the second oldest city (or oldest, depending on who you talk to/believe) in South America; the faro and morro were utilized heavily to protect the city. Santa Marta's colors are light blue and white, which Neiser kept in mind when illustrating the Santa Marta bay.

Colombia's colors are yellow, dark blue, and red, often referred to as tricolor.  When seen on the Colombian flag, the yellow band is on top and thicker than the dark blue and red bands.

Last summer we started this football school, hence the 2012.




A few of the other submissions:

 

I liked the idea of changing the cross on the yellow, circular emblem (middle shield) into a large, red "F" for Fundadores. We discussed making the stripes blue to incorporate Colombia's colors and also putting 2012 inside the star. I also thought that converting this to a computerized image would be easier due to its simplicity. In the end, despite all of the changes, it still felt a little too similar to AC Milan's logo.

I am constantly amazed by how giving many people that I have met in my life are.


We've been asking a lot of favors from Marcos' contacts as well, or that people "collaborate" with us. The Liga de Fútbol de Magdalena has been very patient with us, and has been doing more than their part to see this work out. We're all paid up to be registered and the Director of Tournaments from La Liga de Fútbol de Magdalena is very graciously helping us prepare the Statues needed to become affiliated with the league as well as complete the necessary paperwork to take to the Alcaldía and la DIAN so we can open a bank account in the name of the club/school.

No matter how busy she is, the woman who helped put together a series of emblems (seen to the right) and a second round of iterations, is one of the most giving people I know. Freda is involved in almost everything, organizes huge fundraising events, has her own Project for Peace that she has just left to go implement, and still offered her time to design some possible emblems for the school. I asked for simple... since we will be having the final logo imprinted on the schools' uniforms (that will stay in the ownership of the school and be loaned out, in order to ensure maximum participation as well as care).


I met Jeffry while looking to stay active while in Santa Marta. (Sounds like it should be easy if you're working with a soccer school, right?) Jeffry was looking to start running to complement his water polo training for a large beach event at the end of July (which I will unfortunately be barely missing). Pretty soon we were running in the mornings and I have attended a couple of water polo practices. I'm a little rough around the ages, considering it has been ~10 years, and am definitely out of swimming shape. In addition, I asked Jeffry to come to me to work on the shields yesterday. By the time I got back to internet today, Jeffry had fleshed out some ideas (to the right) using Photoshop, donating his own time.


Which last brings me to Thy Doan... We played water polo together back in high school and as far as I've know her she has been blessed artistically. I wrote to her asking for her help... I have yet to reach out again with a final iteration, but I know if I do, it'll come out fantastic. So big thanks ahead of time even if only for agreeing to help these kids.

THANK YOU!

By the way, hopefully now you all understand the color scheme. And I realize something must be done about the headline photo... 

Background: Barrio Los Fundadores

Barrio Los Fundadores is a small neighborhood located on the outskirts of Santa Marta, Colombia, approximately 20 minutes from the city center. The neighborhood is accessible by taxi or buseta, a ride costing $1200 COP or about $0.53 USD. 

According to the 2005 census conducted by the Junta Communal de Acción del Barrio Los Fundadores (Community Action Committee of Barrio Fundadores), there are approximately 1870 households, with an estimated 3600 children and 3700 adults.

The majority of Los Fundadores residents have limited income and resources, are displaced and vulnerable, and have the lowest SISBEN (System for 
Selecting Beneficiaries of Social Spending) level of 1, which is calculated via geographical targeting and family assessment.

A community needs assessment, the Neighborhood Check-up,* conducted by volunteers of Fundación Mariposas Amarillas (Foundation Yellow Butterflies) in 2012, shed light on a number of pertinent issues experienced in the neighborhood some residents call “the forgotten neighborhood.” The community not only lacks a health center, a public primary school and a public high school, but the residents are also suffering from environmental pollution due to its proximity to the municipal waste dump Palangana. Insecurity was cited as the largest problem the community faces. Over the past year, escalating violence, especially among adolescents and young adults, has become common.

*The Neighborhood Check-up is an instrument developed by Jean Kjellstrand, PhD, in conjunction with the Promise Neighborhoods Research Consortium, an initiative that assists high-poverty neighborhoods in identifying and implementing evidence-based practices. The assessment was adapted by Alis Cobas and Cameron Rasmussen to fit the social, cultural and environmental circumstances for communities in the country of Colombia. 

Week Two Recap

Monday, June 10th

The 10 and unders play.

As Monday was a holiday (another long weekend, or puente), the school was invited to participate in a friendly game against Real Fortaleza Santa Marta at the Polideportivo del Magdalena. El Poli is an outdoor sports complex about a 15-20 minute buseta ride from Los Fundadores.

Two games were played: 10 and under, and 11 and up. A great amount of effort goes into organizing games for the children when the school is not yet apart of a formal league. 

Marcos receives a medal and trophy on
 behalf of his work with vulnerable youth.

Marcos' hard work for vulnerable youth in Santa Marta was recognized by the Manager of Fields at el Poli and Inspector of the Liga de Fútbol del Magdalena. With each match that the school participates in, slowly but surely people are becoming aware of this program. As I have mentioned in a foot note, the team plays with what they own, meaning that they borrow siblings' shoes or wear sneakers and plastic shoes; most go without shinguards; they wear mismatched shorts and socks; and when kids are subbed off the field, they immediately take of their shirt to pass it to the entering player. 

Tuesday, June 11th

Tuesday was another "half day," with the Selección de Colombia playing against Peru. Tuesday we had planned to visit the Cámara de Comercio and come away with good news that we had registered successfully the foundation that will be raising and channeling funds to the soccer school. We were missing an important document and were unable to communicate with Diego Nuñez, who will represent Fundación Goles de Corazón (Fundagocor) as Manager. I hope to have a post on "Who We Are" up soon. To my disappointment, we had to postpone registration of the foundation for the following day (in reality, Thursday). 

Marcos and I did, however, continue our discussion of ways to outfit an inexpensive office for the school and foundation and better organized ourselves to complete the missing details and documents that we need in order to register our 60 committed kids in La Liga de Fútbol del Magdalena. After finishing the spreadsheet for the children who had turned in the three pieces of information we had asked for (copy of health insurance card, copy of identification card, and identifying details), it is becoming more apparent how difficult it is to complete paperwork here. One notices the utility of a computer (and Excel as well as software) when you are working with someone who has been a one-man show without a computer.

During the match, Marcos and I began to compile and sketch out ideas for the soccer school’s insignia. The kids have expressed an interest in changing the name from La Escuela de Fútbol Los Fundadores to Fundadores Fútbol Club (FCC). I am partial to using the second name, at least for the shield; it reminds me of professional teams and sounds more competitive. If anyone has experience in design and/or would like to help contribute to the final version, please contact me. Credit will obviously be given.

Thanks to a penalty by Falcao and a goal by Teófilo Gutiérrez (Teó), Colombia won 2-0. Due to the death of a 16-year-old girl in a motorcycle caravan accident after last Friday’s match, motorcycles were suspended from use in the evening to prevent a similar celebratory occurrence from happening. Sadly, the young 16-year-old was a resident of Los Fundadores. As my contacts here in Santa Marta are mainly concentrated in the neighborhoods of Oasis and Los Fundadores, it makes sense that I found out so quickly about this event because she was from Los Fundadores.

Wednesday, June 12th

The past week I was also struck with a bit of bad luck. The light post outside of my place caught fire last Sunday while I was at the beach, rendering three homes without power and telephone service. Now, I sympathize with the foundation's team that has been working on this project here in Colombia, not having access to internet in their homes. After I don’t know how many phone calls and even a trip to report grievances to the press, Electricaribe finally fixed the power three days later.

Thursday, June 13th

Things seemed to turn around starting Thursday. By the time I left for the Cámara de Comercio, they were fixing the telephone lines. Internet was finally back. 

We camped out in front of the Cámara for several hours, filling out (and refilling out) the necessary carbon copies and making what felt like an excessive amount of photocopies. When it opened again (morning hours are from 7:00am until 11:30) at 2:00pm, we were one of the first people in line. As far as we know, registration of the foundation Goles de Corazón was successful. We will call on Tuesday to confirm that all materials were received and without error.

Friday, June 14th

An exhausting but more representative day at the Fundadores football field, I attended both morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session was much more orderly than the others I had been to (due to the smaller number of children in attendance). The practices draw attention from Fundadores residents, which can potentially have its negative consequences. There has been an escalating violence issue in the neighborhood, concentrated in adolescents and young adults. We were visited by a few who sat on the sidelines and on their motorcycles, curious with questions.  They seem to respect the work that we are doing or at least respect the neighborhood children (or their younger siblings) enough to not cause any problems during practice hours.

I am no soccer coach but because of the large group of kids in the afternoon, I focused my time with the girls group. I led them in stretching and warm-up running drills, then turned over the reigns to Andres (an older brother of a participant) to begin instructing the basics and so he might begin to learn some coaching skills. We've got some work to do with positive reinforcement... but one day at a time.

Celebrating Year One...with a Blog

Palillos de bocadillo con queso

Today, in Barrio Los Fundadores, the youth of the Santa Marta neighborhood Los Fundadores celebrated the Escuela de Fútbol Los Fundadores' one year anniversary. Approximately 50 children gathered in the patio of a gracious family from the neighborhood who leant us their space and contributed their time to the distribution of snacks and drinks.





The day prior, during a makeshift practice that included more than 70 children due to the cancelation of both morning and afternoon classes* for the Colombia vs. Argentina game, children were asked for mil pesos or a 1000 COP (about $0.53 USD) contribution for the following day's festivities. Approximately half of the children's families were able to contribute to the successful chaos of the party. No child is ever excluded due to his/her inability to contribute to water, snacks, or buseta costs (1200 COP one-way).

The kids had an opportunity to exercise patience while food and drinks were being purchased and prepared. It was a definite challenge for them (and for me) but something that we are working on with each day that passes. Something I will have to continue to remind myself is that, for me, this is only day #4 and that this is the Colombian coast and definitely not the speed of New York.

After the costly** registration of the school with La Liga de Fútbol Magdalena, the soccer league of the Colombian department Magdalena of which Santa Marta is the capital, and its subsequent formal recognition, a primary objective of mine has been the expansion of the program to include the girls' teams. We have 26 girls ranging from 6 to 16 years of age signed up and are in search of a female resident to train as an assistant coach and who will also serve as a role model.

In the next few updates I hope to provide more background on the soccer school, its mission, its needs and our challenges (and how you can help--I'm in need of international e-commerce advice); on this project and the Davis Projects for Peace in general; and our progress towards what we hope will be a more secure neighborhood and a promising future for these youth. 

Special thanks to Juliet Robboy who helped develop this proposal but who unfortunately was not able to join me.



*An issue about schooling in the coast of Colombia expressed by involved parents and confirmed by a needs assessment, the Neighborhood Check-up, conducted last summer is the limited time that children are actually present in class. School is divided into two 5-hour sessions or jornadas and children attend either the morning session or the afternoon session. Furthermore, there is an abundance of holidays (the day before I arrived was a holiday, the Friday of the soccer game became a holiday, and the following Monday also a holiday). This also only really refers to the children that are 1) enrolled in school and 2) actually attend class. A requirement of this program is that all participants attend school; the school's director Marcos Nuñez Pachon has placed great emphasis on helping those not attending school get enrolled. A mission of the program is that every participant go on to receive a university education, which will be something tracked in the future for evaluative purposes.

**In addition to a costly registration fee and monthly dues, the league requires that all participants be dressed in uniform for games, meaning cleats, shin guards, socks, shorts, and shirt with the team's name and emblem. These excited children come to practice with what they own, ranging from a few lucky ones with athletic shoes to Sperpys (knock off Sperrys) to plastic slip-on shoes to older brother's or sister's mis-sized shoes to sandals to none at all.